Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 10.8% to own approximately 0.23% of the company, valued at $3,966,000.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Northwest Natural Gas, with the average price target set at $48.00.
• Northwest Natural Gas recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49, resulting in an annualized payout of $1.96 and a yield of 4.6%.

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,061 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $3,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $16,007,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,493.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 368,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,749,000 after acquiring an additional 345,526 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,885,000 after acquiring an additional 265,013 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,851,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,536,000 after acquiring an additional 85,132 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total transaction of $306,216.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 79,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,958.31. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.60. 84,340 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,246. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $44.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.14 and a 200-day moving average of $41.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 0.59.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.The business had revenue of $236.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is 77.47%.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.